COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

Revenue in the Indian shaving segment amounts to US $3903.8 million. Moreover, the Indian
shaving products market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20% till 2020. With regard to the
shaving products in the market, the categories can be divided into cartridge, disposable, and
electric variants amongst which the cartridge razor category has held the largest market share in
2018. It has easy application and affordable price thereby becoming a popular choice for mass
consumer base and luckily Gillette Fusion ProGlide (with Flexball) is a popular product and by
far the most used cartridge razor in the market.  Further, in terms of competitors, it can be seen
that there are 13 main key players in Indian market namely Emami Limited, Gillette India Ltd,
Philips India, Vini Cosmetics Pvt. Ltd., Garnier India Pvt. Ltd., ITC Limited, Marico Ltd., J. K.
Helene Curtis Ltd, VI-John Group, Procter & Gamble, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.,
Hindustan Unilever Limited and Supermax Personal Care Pvt. Ltd. Other less popular brands
include Bombay Shaving Company, Company Overview, LesShave Private Limited, Happily
Unmarried Marketing Pvt. Ltd (Ustraa), Himalaya Drug Company Private Limited, LesShave
Private Limited, Nivea India Private Limited and Zed Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd. It becomes necessary to
do the SWOT Analysis for Gillette Razor as the men’s grooming market in India is thriving at a
rapid pace with around 76 brands wooing men today, which has gone up from 18 brands in
2009.

STRENGTHS – Gillette Razor comes in various forms in the market segment covering a wide
range of products in the same segment. It targets both high and low income group people
spanning across the entire male population in India. The targeting done by the brand has proved
to be very profitable with the highest market share. Despite the competition from other strong
player companies, the segment continues to be attractive and strong for Gillette Razor as the new
varieties and models launched by the other players in the market such as shaving machines
cannot certainly replace or substitute Razor. Moreover since Gillette products are positioned for
everyday use and with wide availability, people from all classes find it accessible and handy that
helps in maintain a shelf space in each of the Indian homes. Thus Gillette has been able to define
new and unseen Indian needs with respect to shaving and has been credited with being one of the
most innovative companies in the business. Its association with Proctor and Gamble has helped
in discovering a strong market orientation and evoking the brand on the top of minds of the
consumers. Further, its global presence and aggressive marketing strategies have added on to this
strength. This has all led to very high margins as high as 30%.

WEAKNESSES – With market research and sales analysis, it can be seen that Indian consumers
are unwilling to pay a high price for razors unlike the Gillette’s market in US. Then there has
also been lack of consumer awareness. Although, Gillette has always focused on innovating and
creating need-based differentiation for their variants yet the customers have perceived a razor as
just something for removing unwanted hair. This has created a need for continuous customer
education which the company was unable to address initially. Also, it can be seen that the room
for innovation is getting closed with not much that can be done to improve the existing products.
Other than that, some of the advanced products of Gillette have more than one spare parts in
which advanced technology is used to assemble them. Thus the cost of assembly rises with
increase in number of spare parts. Lastly, the razor is heading towards its maturity stage leaving
less scope for Gillette to enhance its market share in the razor variant.

OPPORTUNITIES – Gillette can certainly profit tremendously as more people become aware
and educated on the importance of personal hygiene in the remote and unreached corners of
India. With Gillette performing greatly in the men shaving razor segment, there are good
prospects for it to cover the female segment as well with different variants. Thus gender based
segmentation can help in catering to a greater population with a wider appeal. With increased
importance to beauty, the vast inflow of information through mass advertisements and large scale
promotions have made customers increasingly conscious about their appearance. They are
concerned about their problems, root causes and are continuously searching for solutions. Thus,
there comes a clear opportunity for consumer companies to depend on need-based
differentiation. In terms of growth potential, the number of the middle class across the globe are
rising. The middle class has a set of needs that are growing leading to more scope for new
products that can satisfy these emerging needs. Other than that, in India, there is a surge of
income because of the growing number of dual-income households with increase in working
population. The middle-income group has now more to spare and this propensity to spend
leading to increase in further impulsive buying. Thus there is scope for Gillette to also expand in
other grooming and personal care segments with its shaving razor reaching the stage of maturity.
It is the right time for it to venture into other segments.
THREATS – Competitor companies are trying to build non-sustainable models of spending.
Since the consumer spending patterns are changing at a fast pace, the new businesses are finding
it difficult to create business models that can be customized. Also, with start-ups such as
Bombay Shaving Company coming into picture, it is essential for Gillette not to underestimate
their potential as anything catchy today soon becomes a trend in the Indian market.